Texas woman gets 35 years for death of daughter, 3

Published 11:00 am, Friday, October 11, 2013

FORT WORTH — A North Texas woman has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for strangling her 3-year-old daughter as part of her violent routine to get the girl to mind.

A judge in Fort Worth on Friday sentenced 20-year-old Janice Rene Anthony in a plea agreement. Anthony pleaded guilty to murder in the September 2012 death of Paris Howard. The girl's body was discovered at the apartment she shared with her mother.

Anthony initially said the girl fell down some stairs. The woman later told investigators that she often spanked, punched and choked the girl for not minding or for soiling herself.

Anthony told police she had choked the girl the night before her daughter was found dead on Sept. 6, 2012.